Molding



Oct. 21, 1958 F. HOBBS MOLDING Filed March 28, 1955 United States Patent MOLDING Frank Hobbs, Seattle, Wash., assgnor to Colotrym Company, Seattle, Wash., a corporation of Washington Application March 28, 1955, Serial No. 497,008

1 Claim. (Cl. 40--16) place and the shelf edges are ornamentally pleasing to "l: the eye.

While moldings for the general purposes of holding price tags or other legends or labels have been rather widely employed in connection with the edges of shelves, it is notorious that the attachment of such moldings through the uses of screws or nail fastenings has been time consuming and requires relatively high skill on the part of the craftsman. Adhesive fastening means have been tried, but without success. It is noted that, in addition to the foregoing installation diiculty, the moldings often become dislodged or loosened and, in a fairly short "time, become misaligned, thus presenting a dishevelled appearance. Another diiculty that has been observed is that it is only with a high degree of skill and care that a molding can be attached to a shelf edge so that the upper, outer corner of the edge is practically right-angular and the molding flush with the top' of the shelf so that objects thereon can be easily slid off without interference by the molding or disturbance of the molding. Another diiculty that bears consideration accompanies the current widespread use of plywood or other reconstituted fibrous boards in which the edges, even though the boards laterally or longitudinally may be extremely strong and durable, have relatively little holding power for screw or nail fasteners introduced into the board edge perpendicular thereto. This is a wellknown criticism of such boards and, while the difficulty may be minimized by the use of a great number of screw fasteners placed relatively close together, this merely aggravates the problem of attachment, lengthening the operation and making it more costly.

These and other diliiculties and disadvantages of the prior art constructions are overcome and the broader objects of my invention are accomplished by the provision of the molding constructions disclosed here which are fastenable to shelf edges without screw or nail type fasteners or by the use of adhesive compound, and which, when attached securely and immovably, grip the shelf edge without interfering with the atness or smoothness of the upper face. ment to shelves with a minimum of labor and skill in the craftsman and its best attachment is obtained easily and simply in accordance with modern production methods,

of a shelf showing my improved molding rigidly and surely attached thereto in accordance with this invention;

Figures 2, 3 and 4 are end views of moldings involvin'g my invention, each incorporating variations and modiications with respect to the others;

Figure 5 is an enlarged end View of an unattached molding of the type shown in Figure 3 as it appears following production by extrusion processes;

Figure 6 is an end view of a shelf-edge molding useful for trimming and stiffening purposes, however omitting means for holding price tags or indicia; and

Figure 7 is a schematic view illustrating the means and method whereby pressure-attachment of my molding to a shelf edge is obtained.

In the drawings, like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the same.

Referring to Figure l, a fragment of a shelf board itl is shown as comprising plywood with which my molding is particularly useful. There are also available on the market other boards, particularly those formed of reconstituted wood fiber of the nature of Masonite or the like, which are widely used for shelving material. These, too, are readily trimmed with my molding. `In some installations it is customary to apply surfacing materials, such as linoleum or plastic sheeting, to shelf surfaces for decorative as well as hard service uses, and I have such in mind in connection with this invention. Plywood and wood fiber shelving, while having extremely high moduli of rupture, are also characterized by having relatively low nail or screw holding power at the edges. I overcome this diiiiculty or condition, one of the main objects of this invention, through the formation of .a

pressure-attached molding as described.

My molding is adapted for attach- I practicable either on the job or in a cabinet shop or factory with great economy and efliciency.

The foregoing and other objects are obtained and will be apparent from a reading of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

.Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion The molding 12 comprises a generally upright, slightly cupped channel having lips 14 and 16 which provide longitudinally extending grooves to` receive the upper and lower edges of a thin, exible card or tag 18. This molding shown in Figures 3 and 5 is the molding of the Figure 1 assembly. In Figure 3 the shelf board 1t) has been depicted by dotted lines and the molding is in the conformation assumed when attached to the shelf board. In Figure 5 the molding appears uncompressed as it is produced by extrusion and prior to attachment. Referring to the latter View particularly, it will be noted that the molding 12 has an upper, or rst, rearwardly directed flange 2t) integral with the molding 12. Relatively sharp ridges 22 and 24 on the rear lower margin of flange 20 form biting means operable when the molding is attached to a shelf board 10. Note that ridge 24 is extremely close to or at the rear edge of the flange and is structurally supported by a substantial body of metal in a manner to prevent its collapse or distortion.

Flange 2l) is angularly disposed with respect to the upright plane of molding 12 as defined by base wall 13 so that the longitudinally extending ridges 22 and 24 at their apices lie at or outside of a line perpendicular to wall 13. The rear face of wall 13 comprises an abutment or bearing surface when the molding is disposed on a shelf edge. A second rearwardly directed ange 26 is outstanding in an underlying relationship to flange 29 and extends from the rear of the molding 12 above the lower edge. Flange 26 is likewise provided with longitudinally extending biting ridges 2S and 30 near the rear margin. Ridges 28, 30 cooperate with ridges 22, 24 when the molding is compressed or closed to bite into the wood material forming the shelf edge.

Flanges 20 and 26 are thinned at their points of joinder to molding 12 by the formation of grooves 31 and rigidity at this point of attachment. A horn 34 on the rear of molding 12 provides bearing surface 36, in the same plane as the rear surface of wall 13, which additionally serves to position the molding for attachment, as will be described hereafter.

Note that the lower, or second, flange 26 is angularly disposed with respect to flange 20 in a non-parallel relationship whereby the flanges diverge or liare to such an extent that a shelf edge'that may be interposed between them with its upper, outer corner located at the point ofv juncture 21 adjacent groove 31 between wall 13 and the under surface of flange 20. By this arrangement the biting ridges 22, 24 and 28, 30 can be brought into bearing relation against the board surfaces without marring or scraping. Standard lumber of approximately 13716 thickness can easily be accommodated when the molding is proportioned as shown and the dimension between the point 21 and point 23 is .795 inch.

Attachment of the molding is obtained in a manner schematically shown in Figure 7. Board with the molding 12 loosely positioned thereon is interposed between backing roller 40 and the driven forming roller 42. Roller 40 on shaft 41 is mounted in journal 44 resiliently Ipressed by spring 46. Roller 42 may have spurs 48 to deform the flange 26 and produce dentations 50 shown in Figure 1. Rotation of the spurred roller 42 is obtained through the application of power to shaft 52. It is to be understood that rollers 40 and 42 are powerfully pressed together.

Through attachment means of the nature shown in Figure 7 and the application of pressure the ange 20 is caused to swing slightly downward forcing the biting ridges 22 Vand 24 into the upper marginal surface of the shelf 10 to such a degree that the upper surface of flange comes into substantially flush arrangement relative the upper surface of the shelf 10. At the same time, through the application of the same pressure, flange 26 is likewise swung upward in more or less o f a pivotal manner about point 23 due to the weakened point of :attachment of flange 26 to the molding 12 produced by groove 32. .Flange 26 likewise cornes into substantial parallel arrangement or relation to the underside of the shelf 10 and to flange 20. Also the biting ridges 28 and 30 are likewise embedded in the woody material.

In a preferred form of the invention, as shown in Fig ure 5, the angular disposition of the anges 20 and 26 is that each is disposed approximately 100 from the upright plane of wall r13. Thus, in effect, the angular divergence of walls 20 and 26 withrelation to each other is approximately 110. With various `designs -this divergence may vary, but in all instances, including those in which wall 20 is disposed atright angles to wall-13there must be divergence of wall ,-26 with respectto wall 13 'suicient to permit the application -of themolding to a Ashelf edge without undue tearing ofthe edge of the shelf board, as 10.

Referring to Figure 2, it will beseen that molding 62 is quite similar to that of Figures 3 and 5, but is adapted to hold a narrower tag or other indicia than is the case with the molding 12. Molding 62 hasa short depending leg 64 on the rear surface from which at its lower end or edge the lower flange 66 extends rearward. At the point of ioinder between leg 64 and flange 66 is groove 68 provided to insure bending, as` when the molding is -pressure attached to a board,of the lower flange rather `than in the upper danste 70. `Flanges 66 and 70 are likewise provided with biting ridges as previously described. The rearyface of leg 64 is in alignment with the main upright wall of molding V62, and these two provide a broad bearing surface against the board when it is brought into place.

4, at the point of joinder between walls 74 and 76 weakens or reduces the strength of the structure to insure bending as previously set forth. Because of the upright superposed disposition of lips 14 and 16, one over the other, it necessary to cant or tilt wall 73 forward. Hence, flange 7S is somewhat longer than is the case with the other moldings. Bead 79 on the under surface of ange 78 is located in alignment with the rear surface of wall 74 so that these two elements may cooperate to provide aligned bearing surfaces at the top and bottom of the back side of the molding 72 to receive and position the molding on a shelf board. Groove 77 facilitates bending of flange 78 relative wall 73.

The modified molding 'shown in Figure 6 is primarily designed in accordance'with the principles of this invention to trim and stiffen shelf edges where there is no desire to display price tags or other indicia. In this case the molding 92 has a concave-convex facing wall 9 3, the upper, or first, outstanding rearward wall 94 andthe second, or lower, ange 96 both ofl which `are provided with bit-ing ridges to enter woody material. 'Groove 98 within the channel and between walls 93 and 96 weakens the point of joinder of ange 96 vto wall 93, likewise to insure bending at this point when the molding is pressure attached to the edge of a board.

All of the moldings shown herein, in addition to being easy of attachment, simple of formation and extremely long-lived under conditions of hard usage, valso function in a manner not previously attendant upon the prior art moldings. While' it is known that the use of a metallic channel on the edge of a board tends to stiften the same and increase yits yresistance toV sagging under heavy loading, Yit is surprising and uriusualin this case that the stiE- ness of the shelf board is markedly increased over what normally'would be expected. It'app'e'ars to me that this increased strength is due to the fact that the molding is not merely slipped over the edge of a board, but ispressure-attached in an extremely tight manner withv compression'of the woody materialat the `edge of the shelf board being very substantial. This Vin some `way 'stilfens the shelf edge and the board more than normallycould be expected. Also theboard is not 4weakened due to attachmenty of this molding ascompared with those'where screw or nail fasteners are used. 'v Y While I have shown and described lin connection with the apparatus of Figure 7y a speci-fic meansmfor'obtaining pressure .attachment of the molding to' a board edge, it will of coursebeunderstood that this method is merely illustrative. It is 4entirely practicalto obtaina rmgrip yo fmthemolding to a boardedge by"positoning the same toa boardiedge in the inverted position with the upper angeresting on a bench or similar lsupporting surface.

Then, through the use of a block of Wood and a hamlmer, one may manually bend and deform the anges in a very neat and simple manner by striking a series of blows against the upward facingbottorn flange along the length of the molding. In cases Where moldings are curved to bend around a corner shelf, and on other occasions, l have also foundit practical to manually apply themold'mg to aboard through theuse of a tong-like vtool having apair of handles. to .be grippedor brought together to exert pressure throughvpressure pads upon the upper and lower flangesof the molding. Other methods will of course occur to those skilled in the art.

Moldings according to this invention are usually best formed by extruding processes and among the suitable materials that l prefer to employ is aluminum. By the use of extrusions, uniform or desirable, but complex,

lcross-,sections may be obtained throughout the length of the molding, not onlyto provide a pleasing, decorative molding shape for the edge of a shelf board, but also to build into ,the molding the structural features which I have described andvwhich I have found very useful to accomplish my purposes.

It should be seen from the foregoing that the objects recited initially and alluded to elsewhere have been accomplished in a manner that is eflicient, simple and according to the best manufacturing processes. While essentially the novelty of my invention ows from the herein described molding construction, it will also be apparent that there is a novel arrangement or article produced when the molding is combined with a shelf board and the application of squeezing pressure has brought the flanges on the rear of the molding into embedding and compressing relationship with the woody material of the shelf board, not only to securely grip the same but also to further rigidify and stiffen it, either with or without the dentations 50 being formed. When the lower ange is dentated by the use of wheel 42 having spurs 48, an extrem-ely secure attachment is obtained on coarse grained woods, such as Douglas fir plywood and the like, as well as upon the more uniformly dense, line-grained woods. These latter include mahogany veneers, birch or the boards produced by reconstituting and reintegrating cellulose liber of the nature of which Masonite is typi' cal.

In addition to plywood and the reintegrated cellulose fiberboards that have been described, there is currently coming into widespread use in the board iield a panel which is made of wood particles, wood chips, shavings, or combinations thereof. These boards are generically described as particle boards. They have very smooth,

decorative and useful at faces but, in general, their edges are weak and do not readily receive and hold nails or screw fasteners. It is with such a board as this that my molding finds a substantially perfect application. The attachment of the molding not only is accomplished without the use of extraneous fastening elements, but also strengthens the edge of the board, thus precluding its disintegration either through the entrance of moisture or the application of destructive forces, as would be the case with nail or screw fastenings. One such board as I have in mind and with which my invention is particularly applicable is that product manufactured by the United States Plywood Corporation known as Novoply. Other boards by other trade designations are likewise currently becoming popular and enjoying widespread use.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that vibrations and modications may be made in the construction of moldings of the nature herein. Such changes and modifications as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the subjoined claim I consider to be integrated within my inventive concepts.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

An edge molding for attachment to shelves and the like, comprising: a generally C-shaped extruded nonresilient metal body having an elongated upright base wall to engage the end of a shelf and a pair of integral flanges at the ends of the base wall rearwardly directed therefrom in non-parallel diverging relation to each other, said body being shaped during extrusion to provide a backside groove therein adjacent the point of joinder of one of said flanges with said base wall, said groove being of a size and depth to reduce the rigidity of said body between said flange and the base wall to less than the rigidity at the point of joinder of said other ange with said base wall, whereby when said body is disposed astraddle a shelf edge and the anges are simultaneously pressed together to clamping relation there is a greater movement of the liange adjacent said groove than of said other flange.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,645,640 Aquila Oct. 18, 1927 1,719,505 Egan July 2, 1929 1,925,603 Reiher Sept. S, 1933 2,601,026 Jones .Tune 17, 1952 2,608,776 Schuler Sept. 2, 1952 

